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Carrying Hope in a Brown Paper Bag
The following are first-person accounts from Catherine M. Flaitz, D.D.S., dean of The University of Texas Dental Branch at Houston, and Kishore Shetty, D.D.S., associate professor of restorative dentistry, during two weeks spent caring for HIV-infected children in Uganda.
Thursday, Jan. 26, 2006,Torrorro Main Hospital
Catherine M. Flaitz, D.D.S., examines a child for a variety of oral diseases with the help of dental assistant, Laurie, of Denver, and child care-taker, Mary, of JaJa’s Home, a child development center for HIV-positive children. Photos by Erika E. Hargrove
Shetty:
I went into the village where the people live today to better capture exactly who we are caring for. I wasn’t content just being in the clinic or the parts of Uganda that are carved out for the tourists. I wanted to see what real life was like.
The village life is horrible. No electricity, no bathrooms, mud houses. I had to ask myself, “Is this living or surviving?” I have been all around the world and even lived in Kenya during my childhood, but I have never seen anything like this.
However, at the same time it was interesting and ironic to see that even while living with AIDS and so many other diseases, there is still happiness in the faces of the children.
The dental clinic waiting area was “standing room only” each day. A total of 300 children were seen by the team.
Flaitz:
The five-hour drive to Torrorro was rough and swelteringly hot. Massive craters checker the dirt roads, and orange dirt blew in from the open windows and covered everything that we were wearing and carrying. (And we think Houston’s pot holes are a bother.) The roads were narrow and dangerous with trucks speeding by us so close you could feel the vibrations. I don’t operate well in extreme heat at all and it was nearly unbearable today. Water has never felt so valuable.
Tuesday, Jan. 31, Mildmay Clinic
Flaitz:
I have never seen children with so many different kinds of skin infections and unusual scars. Many of the children are very well behaved, dressed in their Sunday best, but so very sick. They are petite and soft-spoken with enlarged abdomens, thin faces and oversized, frightened eyes that spoke volumes. These are characteristics of HIV disease, malaria and malnutrition all in the same child.
Watching the waiting room was a study all its own. I was glad to see so many men involved in their children’s health care needs. Since we have been here, we have also seen that although many of the children may be orphans, they are most definitely not alone. They have aunts, uncles, cousins and friends caring for them. Ugandans embrace the extended family.
And some of the children are so cute I just wanted to take them home. (If I hadn’t packed so many non-perishable food items and mosquito spray, I would have had room in my luggage for a small toddler.)
Wednesday, Feb. 1, Mildmay Clinic
Flaitz:
I spoke to the Ugandan Dental Association today as part of a Continuing Education course. I thoroughly enjoy talking with people who love dentistry, so this was certainly a treat for me. The area where I spoke was small, dark and noisy. The room was stifling hot but I seemed to be the only one who noticed. Scotch tape held the projection screen together. It was a simple classroom filled with politely attentive dentists who asked lots of questions. It was a rewarding experience.
Barbara Namboyera, center, and her children Norah, 7, left, and Aevis, 6, prepare to leave for home after a full day of waiting and receiving care at the dental clinic.
This trip has taught me that the dental illnesses of patients with more pigment need to be analyzed and diagnosed differently. Red is not always red and yellow is not always yellow in the mouth of a person of color. What was most rewarding during the Continuing Education course was that we realized together that a color atlas of dentistry should be developed showing oral diseases and conditions in children of color. I look forward to being a part of the collaboration that will bring that into existence.
Thursday, Feb. 2, Mildmay Clinic
Shetty:
We go home tomorrow and I must say this trip has been an excellent experience. Although I must say it was emotionally draining for me as well to see so much sickness at one time, in children who are so young. I am thankful for the opportunity. But I also know that we have only scratched the surface. There is so much more work to be done.
Flaitz:
We saw 77 children today and we started to run out of toys and supplies. That makes the grand total 300 for the two weeks that we have spent here. We were busy to say the least. I have to be honest — Sub-Saharan Africa was one place I didn’t think I would ever want to treat children. I actually thought the conditions would be much worse and that my safety would be at great risk. The politics of the area were also an initial concern of mine. But once we got here, it was all about the children and only about the children.
Crossing Continents
to Provide Dental Care
Read how despide distance, dentistry is deemed important for orphans living with HIV in Uganda
Looking back over the trip, I think what most impressed me was a young man named Bosco. He waited all day for us to see him, and he needed so much treatment. At the end of the day with a numb mouth full of gauze, he made one last stop to the pediatrician to pick up HIV medication. He waved and thanked us with a crooked grin and walked home alone in the sunset. I just stood there in awe. He couldn’t have been older than 12 years old, and there he was determined to beat the odds of this devastating disease by carrying his hope in a brown paper bag full of HIV medication. They have to grow up so fast here – so different from the carefree childhood that I so fondly remember.
I must admit, it was difficult to work around flies, heat and sweat in your face, but we will be back. We all got hot, we all got thirsty, but when it came to the children, we just stepped up and got to work.
By Erika E. Hargrove, Public Affairs